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Background Pancreatic cancer shows a highly aggressive and infiltrative growth pattern and is characterized by an abundant tumor stroma known to interact with the cancer cells, and to influence tumor growth and drug resistance. Cancer cells actively take part in the production of extracellular matrix proteins, which then become deposited into the tumor stroma. Type IV collagen, an important component of the basement membrane, is highly expressed by pancreatic cancer cells both in vivo and in vitro . In this study, the cellular effects of type IV collagen produced by the cancer cells were characterized. Methods The expression of type IV collagen and its integrin receptors were examined in vivo in human pancreatic cancer tissue. The cellular effects of type IV collagen were studied in pancreatic cancer cell lines by reducing type IV collagen expression through RNA interference and by functional receptor blocking of integrins and their binding-sites on the type IV collagen molecule. Results We show that type IV collagen is expressed close to the cancer cells in vivo , forming basement membrane like structures on the cancer cell surface that colocalize with the integrin receptors. Furthermore, the interaction between type IV collagen produced by the cancer cell, and integrins on the surface of the cancer cells, are important for continuous cancer cell growth, maintenance of a migratory phenotype, and for avoiding apoptosis. Conclusion We show that type IV collagen provides essential cell survival signals to the pancreatic cancer cells through an autocrine loop.

In contribution to current debates on the changing roles and responsibilities of civil society in welfare state arrangements, I examined the participation of various types of civil society organizations in national welfare policymaking in Sweden between 1958 and 2012. Drawing upon an extensive dataset of over 1400 civil society, state, and for-profit organizations, I tested three claims related to the role and responsibility of civil society in the governance of welfare: the changing balance between corporatist and welfare organizations, the shift from voice to service, and another shift from nonprofit organizations to FPOs. My results revealed weak but emerging trends aligned with changing patterns of corporatism and the marketization of Sweden’s welfare system. However, support for any shift from voice to service remains uncertain. Dans le cadre des débats actuels sur les changements que subissent les rôles et les responsabilités de la société civile dans les affaires afférentes à l’État providence, je me penche sur l’implication de divers types d’organisations de société civile dans le processus d’élaboration des politiques sociales nationales de la Suède de 1958 à 2012. À l’aide d’un imposant ensemble de données concernant plus de 1400 organisations de société civile, d’État et sans but lucratif, j’ai testé trois déclarations relatives au rôle et à la responsabilité de la société civile dans la gouvernance de l’assistance sociale: l’équilibre changeant entre le corporatisme et les organismes d’assistance sociale, la transition de la prise de parole à l’offre de service, et la transition d’organisme sans but lucratif à organisme à but lucratif. Mes résultats démontrent que des tendances subtiles émergent et qu’elles sont alignées sur les modèles changeants du corporatisme et de la marchéisation du système d’assistance sociale. Rien ne soutient cependant avec certitude la transition de la prise de parole à l’offre de service. Um zu den aktuellen Debatten über die sich ändernden Rollen und Verantwortlichkeiten der Bürgergesellschaft in sozialstaatlichen Systemen beizutragen, untersuchte ich die Partizipation unterschiedlicher Arten von Bürgergesellschaftsorganisationen an Entscheidungen zur nationalen Sozialpolitik in Schweden zwischen 1958 und 2012. Dazu stützte ich mich auf einen umfassenden Datensatz von über 1400 Bürgergesellschafts-, staatlichen und gewinnorientierten Organisationen und testete drei Behauptungen hinsichtlich der Rolle und Verantwortung der Bürgergesellschaft bei der Steuerung sozialer Belange: das sich ändernde Gleichgewicht zwischen korporatistischen und Wohlfahrtsorganisationen, der Wandel von Vertreter zu Dienstleistungsanbieter und ein weiterer Wandel von gemeinnützigen Organisationen hin zu gewinnorientierten Organisationen. Meine Ergebnisse offenbarten zwar schwache, doch neue Trends, die mit den sich ändernden Mustern des Korporatismus und der Vermarktlichung von Schwedens Sozialsystem in Einklang liegen. Allerdings gibt es weiterhin keine sicheren Beweise für einen Wandel von Vertreter zu Dienstleistungsanbieter. Como contribución a los debates actuales sobre los cambiantes papeles y responsabilidades de la sociedad civil en los acuerdos del estado de bienestar, he examinado la participación de varios tipos de organizaciones de la sociedad civil en las políticas nacionales de bienestar en Suecia entre 1958–2012. Recurriendo a un extenso conjunto de datos de más de 1400 organizaciones de la sociedad civil, estatales y con ánimo de lucro, he probado tres reivindicaciones relacionadas con el papel y la responsabilidad de la sociedad civil en la gobernanza del bienestar: el cambiante equilibrio entre organizaciones corporativistas y de bienestar, el cambio desde la denuncia al servicio y otro cambio desde organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro a organizaciones con ánimo de lucro. Mis resultados revelaron tendencias débiles pero emergentes junto con patrones de cambio del corporativismo y la marketización del sistema de bienestar de Suecia. Sin embargo, sigue incierto el apoyo para algún cambio desde la denuncia al servicio.

Background Statins are the backbone of lipid-lowering therapy and are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the elderly population in Sweden today. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in men and women, after prostate and breast cancer, respectively, with a median age of 72 years at diagnosis. Statins induce mitochondrial damage leading to accumulation of reactive oxygen species in the cell. Reactive oxygen species can cause mutations in mitochondrial as well as nuclear DNA leading to the development of cancer. Our hypothesis was that statins increase the risk for colorectal cancer. Methods A case study was performed on consecutive cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed at Norrlands University Hospital (NUS) in Umeå between 2012 and 2015 ( n  = 325). Patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type II (DM II n  = 65) were excluded in the primary endpoint analysis (occurrence of colorectal cancer). As control, three databases were used to create an age-matched population in order to calculate the proportion of inhabitants using statins in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. A secondary endpoint was cancer-specific survival among our study group of colorectal cancer patients, including those with DM II, investigating whether there was a difference if the patient was a ‘recent’ statin user or not at the time of diagnosis. Results Statin use at the time of colorectal cancer diagnosis in the study group was 23.8%. The corresponding figure in an age-matched population in Västerbotten was 24.6%. Using a one-proportional one-sided z test, there was no significant difference between these (23.8%, 95% CI 18.6–29.0%, p  = 0.601). When comparing groups 20–64 years of age, the difference was greater with recent statin use in 17.8% in the study population and 11.9% in Västerbotten (17.8%, 95% CI 9.0–26.6%, p  = 0.059). When considering cancer-specific survival, no significant difference in survival was seen when comparing ‘former/never’ statin users as reference category with ‘recent’ users diagnosed with colorectal cancer (HR 1.39, 95% CI 0.89–2.16). Conclusions No significant increase in risk for developing colorectal cancer among patients (type II diabetics excluded) medicated with statins was found. We found no correlation between ‘recent’ statin use at the time of diagnosis and cancer-specific survival.

A common and established view is that increased inputs of nutrients to the sea, for example via river flooding, will cause eutrophication and phytoplankton blooms in coastal areas. We here show that this concept may be questioned in certain scenarios. Climate change has been predicted to cause increased inflow of freshwater to coastal areas in northern Europe. River waters in these areas are often brown from the presence of high concentrations of allochthonous dissolved organic carbon (humic carbon), in addition to nitrogen and phosphorus. In this study we investigated whether increased inputs of humic carbon can change the structure and production of the pelagic food web in the recipient seawater. In a mesocosm experiment unfiltered seawater from the northern Baltic Sea was fertilized with inorganic nutrients and humic carbon (CNP), and only with inorganic nutrients (NP). The system responded differently to the humic carbon addition. In NP treatments bacterial, phytoplankton and zooplankton production increased and the systems turned net autotrophic, whereas the CNP-treatment only bacterial and zooplankton production increased driving the system to net heterotrophy. The size-structure of the food web showed large variations in the different treatments. In the enriched NP treatments the phytoplankton community was dominated by filamentous >20 µm algae, while in the CNP treatments the phytoplankton was dominated by picocyanobacteria <5 µm. Our results suggest that climate change scenarios, resulting in increased humic-rich river inflow, may counteract eutrophication in coastal waters, leading to a promotion of the microbial food web and other heterotrophic organisms, driving the recipient coastal waters to net-heterotrophy.

Abstract Objective: The incidence of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) has increased in Sweden despite decreased smoking, indicating that other factors might be associated. The increased use of statin medication for elevated blood lipids might be one such influencing factor. The aim of the present study was to assess whether statins are afflicted with an increased incidence of UBC. Material and methods: Data from the Swedish National Register of Urinary Bladder Cancer, National Population Register, and Swedish Prescribed Drug Register were extracted. There were 22,936 patients with new diagnosed UBC between 2005 and 2014. Statin prescription was defined as any medication prescribed with the Anatomical Therapeutic Classification code C10A. For each patient, 10 control individuals were matched by age, gender, and living area, comprising 229,326 individuals. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test was used to evaluate the hazards ratios. Results: Statins were more frequently used in patients with UBC (33.8%) than in controls (29.8%, p<0.0001). The use of statins was afflicted with a 23% increased odds ratio (OR) for UBC (OR 1.23 (1.19-1.27), p<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that an increased OR was found in non-muscle invasive UBC only. There was a tendency that OR was stronger for men and for younger patients. Limitations include its retrospective register-based design and potential risk of bias of confounding factors, such as smoking and body mass index. Conclusion: This nationwide register study suggests an association between the occurrence of UBC and patients using statins. The association was found in patients with non-muscle invasive disease only. Confounding factors, such as smoking, cannot be overruled. Cite this article as: Lundberg E, Hagberg O, Jahnson S, Ljungberg B. Association between occurrence of urinary bladder cancer and treatment with statin medication. Turk J Urol 2019; 45(2): 97-102.

Purpose This study aims to examine and compare the influence of the disposition to engage in engagement behaviors on physical and virtual engagement platforms, as well as the influence of these engagement behaviors on brand loyalty, value-in-use and word-of-mouth. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a survey distributed to a random sample of 10,000 fans of five teams in the Swedish top-division of elite football. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to derive a distinction between prevalent platforms, scales were validated through a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used to test the research model. Findings Customer disposition to engage with the sports team had a significant influence on customer engagement behaviors on both physical and virtual engagement platforms. However, engagement behaviors on virtual platforms were found to be more important than engagement behaviors on physical platforms for fostering brand loyalty and value-in-use. Practical implications The results highlight the importance of engagement behaviors with a brand on virtual engagement platforms. Thus, brand managers should prioritize their presence on social media to generate the positive outcomes of customer engagement behaviors. Originality/value By examining the effects of customer engagement behaviors on both physical and virtual engagement platforms, this study provides new insights to the emerging customer engagement literature.

A recurring claim in the literature is that civic engagement in voluntary associations is crucial for the formation of a variety of interpersonal attitudes, such as social trust, tolerance, and intolerance. In this article, we study the role of membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work in the development of anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents. Using a four-wave longitudinal design with a target sample comprising approximately 2000 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16 at the first measurement occasion, this study contributes to previous research by analysing the impact on anti-immigrant attitudes of different dimensions of membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work. The results showed that membership in voluntary associations and volunteer work over several years serve to decrease anti-immigrant attitudes among adolescents over time. In addition, volunteering over several years seems to have a somewhat stronger impact on anti-immigrant attitudes than do various aspects of membership in associations. Our study also shows that anti-immigrant attitudes become more firmly established with age and that membership in only certain types of voluntary associations relates to attitudes toward immigrants. In sum, this study contributes to previous research focusing on the role of civic engagement in the development of interpersonal attitudes.

Amateur athletes invest a lot of effort, time, and money on participating in events such as marathons and bike races. The aim of the study is to explore whether this increases their subjective well-being (SWB). The study addresses both what contributes to SWB and the effects of SWB for participants in large-scale sport events. More than 7,000 sport event participants responded to surveys including measures of sociodemographics, participation in sport events, perceptions of quality and satisfaction of the event, behavioral intentions, and SWB. Building on theories of SWB and serious leisure, hypotheses linked to the causes and effects of SWB are explored. Results show that sociodemographics, past relational activities, and past event participation influence SWB. Furthermore, with higher SWB the sport event participants are more satisfied, perceive a higher quality, and are more likely to participate in future events. These are proposed to be effects of SWB. For sports clubs and event organizers the results help inform marketing efforts before, during, and after events. In particular, if participants with serious leisure careers are identified.

Neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) formed from inorganic divalent mercury (Hg II ) accumulates in aquatic biota and remains at high levels worldwide. It is poorly understood to what extent different geochemical Hg pools contribute to these levels. Here we report quantitative data on MeHg formation and bioaccumulation, in mesocosm water-sediment model ecosystems, using five Hg II and MeHg isotope tracers simulating recent Hg inputs to the water phase and Hg stored in sediment as bound to natural organic matter or as metacinnabar. Calculations for an estuarine ecosystem suggest that the chemical speciation of Hg II solid/adsorbed phases control the sediment Hg pool’s contribution to MeHg, but that input of MeHg from terrestrial and atmospheric sources bioaccumulates to a substantially greater extent than MeHg formed in situ in sediment. Our findings emphasize the importance of MeHg loadings from catchment runoff to MeHg content in estuarine biota and we suggest that this contribution has been underestimated. Methylmercury in aquatic biota constitutes a severe environmental issue globally, but models struggle to provide accurate quantification. Here, the authors combine experimental approaches to assess contributions from different pools and use the data to interpret the mercury cycle in an estuarine setting.